"Man is a funny and laughing animal,” said M. Chulkov. And indeed, we are the only species to which such an ability is given. A laughing man- homo ridens – is much more attractive than a person without a sense of humour, no matter how fantastic the external data is.
And if he also knows how to laugh!..
The curly-haired skinny boy with large eyes and expressive gestures become a welcome guest of the family gatherings in front of TV in 1994 – when Innokenty Smoktunovsky passed away, Dakota Fanning was just born when Leon was shot in the West, and the Contract of the Century was signed in Baku. Since then much water has flowed under the bridge.Those who were born after 1994 have flashed on TV screens, they have already formed their own audience. But Maxim Galkin continues to collect full house. He gives tours, leads TV shows, and to the new 2017, he gave fans of the colloquial genre a gift – a concert “25 years on the stage”. Let a little goof with the number of years- so what?
There were still many among the spectators who literally grew up in Galkin's jokes.
Zadornov did, in fact, tell how the young Max Galkin stood behind the curtains and listened to his speeches.
A graduate of the faculty of linguistics of the RSUH mentally dissected every joke he heard, in order to competently build a contact with his audience. So even those to whom Maxim's other speeches seem to be “not the first freshness” enjoy the atmosphere in the hall, the skillfully used ambivalence of statements, the feeling of a relaxed conversation, and it’s not easy art to lead such a conversation!
Linguistics meanwhile led Maxim to graduate school. However, the defence was not reached. The biopic "Oh, lucky man!", Which was published exactly ten years ago, included footage from the conference "Language Mechanisms of the Comic," where M.A. Galkin – even then an experienced practitioner – set forth his observations: that “the measure of the funny is the reaction of the audience”, “the humor is sensitive to repetitions”, and “the right context and the relevance of the reprise is the key to its success”...
Maxim Alexandrovich, in one interview you spoke about censorship: they say, political jokes are cut out from the air. Who are the judges?
I joke as I consider possible. Television, in turn, shows what it considers possible to show. It depends on the direction of the channel. Recently, the First Channel was in my concert – it came out almost without cuts, although there was enough political humor.
Has it ever happened that those whom you parody offended you?
I don’t know anything about offenses, none personally made any complaints to me.
For example, you and Vladimir Wolfovitch often teased each other. He also promised you a summons for the 27th anniversary and that you will “swim with a goldfish through the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles”...
As for Vladimir Zhirinovsky, it seems to me that it is simply impossible to draw the line between his playing to the public and real emotions!
In your last performances, in jokes about Trump, something is felt from Mikhail Zadornov. No wonder he called you his successor when you toured together.
Zadornov called me a successor as a joke, at the end of the last century! Do you seriously remember this in 2017?! No, well, if I managed to adopt a bit of his professionalism, I, of course, am happy!
Why did you leave graduate school?
Because you can't sit on two chairs. It is impossible at the same time to seriously engage in science and the scene. But I have maintained good relations with the scientific community, and sometimes I am invited to give a presentation at a conference.
Since we are talking about a comic, explain, for example, why a joke, pronounced with a serious face, is often more “explosive” than if accompanied by the narrator’s homeric laughter?
Because explosive is always unexpected!
How do you feel about network trolling and so-called trolls?
Nothing. I simply have no chance to cross with them: My account on the social network is managed by an admin.
And comedies? Why, by the way, are there so many comedies in modern Russian cinema – and so little is really funny?
Truly funny is thought up infrequently. And creativity, put on stream, inevitably loses in quality. I don’t like to watch comedies lately, even if they are recommended to me, so I cannot say for sure how things are going there. I love science fiction, fantasy, thrillers, adventure...
Nevertheless, only two years ago we saw Maxim Galkin already in two persons in a comedic tale "Kings Can Do Everything." They even said that Maxim found out about the birth of twins, being tied to a tree (!) In the forest near Zhytomyr... We are trying to clarify – yes, another duck: “First I learned about the birth of children, then I went to the shooting,” says Maxim.
His marriage to Alla Borisovna Pugacheva is an inexhaustible fount of all kinds of conjectures. Castle of La Pierre Blanche in the village with dissonant called Dirt that once belonged to the Countess Tolstoy; The “sharpened” diva in the castle, now singing only for her own, is a rare bird in a golden cage; two wonderful kids – Harry and Elizabeth, whom the press stubbornly calls the hereditary prince and princess... Even the spitz-dwelling named Marusya – is blue-blooded. And the most remarkable thing is the “demon of irony” in the person of Maxim, tirelessly teasing the situation...
Only lazies didn`t write about your mansion! Is this not Victorian style?
Rather, the Romanesque Gothic with elements of eclecticism.
It is said that you have arranged a smoking room, though you yourself don`t smoke.
I - no, but you never know who will come to visit... They can smoke there.
It seems that you are a connoisseur of a beautiful life ...
What is a “beautiful life”? I just love the quality and comfort. And I appreciate what has been done with talent.
And is megalomania about you?
Oh, no! I do not put myself above others and do not suffer from delusions of grandeur.
For the past six months, you have been running a children's talent show “Best of All”. Don't you think that instilling a “star” role into a child is still a gift for the future? There were many talented children who are then bitterly disappointed in life, because since childhood they were taught that they are the best!
I see only pluses in this program: it develops a desire for knowledge in children, expands their worldview, and finally, just cheers. And what they will become in the future depends solely on parental education.
By the way, about education. Once you are told "Evening Urgant" how to play with your parents in the intellectual game: by any mathematical means to get the number ten from four random numbers. How else did you spend your time in childhood?
Well, I read a lot. Often, my mother and I read the same book, and then exchanged impressions. They read aloud to each other funny passages from Gerald Durrell, for example.
Do you think it is always necessary to tell the children the truth?
We must try not to lie, at least.
Are you and Alla Borisovna restless parents?
Let's just say: very experiential! Although there is no such word, but here it is very useful.
INTERVIEW: SONA NASIBOVA
PHOTO: LOUISA SHARAPOVA
Material published on the 34th issue.
